President Lee Returns Home After Singapore and Philippines Trip... Expands 'Economic Horizon'

On March 4, President Lee Jae-myung met with business leaders from Korea and the Philippines, expressing his hope that "complementary economic cooperation between the two countries will be further strengthened." President Lee is scheduled to return to Korea on this day after completing his four-day trip to Singapore and the Philippines. During this visit, he held summits with Singapore and the Philippines, which are key members of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and achieved results in expanding cooperation in trade and advanced technology fields.

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Korea-Philippines Business Forum held on the 4th at the Conrad Hotel in Manila, Philippines. Photo by Yonhap News.

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Earlier in the day, President Lee attended the Korea-Philippines Business Forum held at the Conrad Hotel in Manila, where he met with more than 250 business leaders from both countries. In his congratulatory remarks, President Lee stated, "Just as ships built by Korean companies at the Subic Shipyard transport products made in the Philippines around the world, creating a second 'Manila Galleon' trade, I look forward to even stronger complementary economic cooperation between our two nations." The Manila Galleon was a trade fleet that sailed between Acapulco, Mexico and Manila, Philippines from the 16th to the 19th century.

President Lee went on to say, "The Philippines has abundant critical minerals (such as nickel and cobalt), and Korea's advanced industries that utilize these minerals offer great potential for collaboration. Let us expand cooperation in sectors like shipbuilding, electricity, and electronics, where demand for partnership is high." He also urged, "The global trade environment is changing faster than ever. Even amid uncertainty, I hope you will boldly invest in new opportunities based on thorough analysis and deep insight."

Earlier, President Lee visited the 'Heroes Cemetery,' the Philippines' national cemetery, to lay a wreath at the Korean War Veterans Memorial and met with surviving veterans and their descendants. In the afternoon, he is also scheduled to hold a discussion with the local Korean community. After completing his itinerary, President Lee will depart the Philippines later today and return to Korea late at night.

The focus of this trip was on "expanding the economic horizon." President Lee placed strategic industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear power, shipbuilding, defense, and energy at the forefront, and concentrated on bundling cooperation with key ASEAN countries under the themes of "investment, supply chain, and security."

Chairman Jung Ki-sun of HD Hyundai (from the left), Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Chairman Shin Dong-bin of Lotte Group, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon of Science and ICT, and Chairman Ryu Jin of the Korea Business Association are listening to President Lee Jae-myung's remarks at the Korea-Philippines Business Forum held at the Conrad Hotel in Manila, Philippines, on the 4th. Yonhap News

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President Lee paid a state visit to the Philippines on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of diplomatic relations and held a summit with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on March 3. The two leaders reaffirmed existing cooperation in trade, infrastructure, and defense, while also agreeing to broaden their collaboration into new growth sectors, including shipbuilding, nuclear power, AI, and critical minerals. They also signed ten memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and agreements spanning digital, public safety, veterans affairs, culture, and people-to-people exchanges. Additional achievements include expanding trade and investment based on the Korea-Philippines FTA and addressing business challenges.

Notably, President Lee announced that, based on the "implementation agreement on defense procurement," Korea would actively support its defense companies' participation in the modernization of the Philippine military. With the revision of the agreement, new provisions related to maintenance and follow-up logistics support for weapon systems, as well as financial support, have been added, raising expectations that cooperation, previously focused on "exports," will now expand to include operation and support.

Collaboration on shipbuilding, nuclear power, and resources was also packaged as a "set." Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and the Export-Import Bank of Korea agreed to work with a Philippine power company on joint development of business and financial models for new nuclear power plants and on nurturing professional talent. In shipbuilding, plans are underway to expand the training and supply of skilled local workers. Efforts were also made to diversify supply chains through an MOU on critical mineral cooperation.

Earlier in Singapore, on March 2, President Lee attended an official welcoming ceremony, a meeting, and a state banquet hosted by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, and held a summit with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Through the Korea-Singapore summit, the two countries agreed to begin negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement (FTA), and signed five MOUs in AI, small modular reactors (SMRs), digital, and science and technology sectors.

In the FTA upgrade talks, the two leaders highlighted cooperation in aircraft maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), aiming to enhance competitiveness in the aviation and defense industries. The Presidential Office noted that, as the MRO market is valued at about 20 trillion won annually and is a high value-added sector, this collaboration is expected to expand Korea's maintenance, parts, and engineering ecosystem and lead to more business orders. Through the MOU on SMRs, a future growth engine, Korea and Singapore also set out a vision to jointly develop a new axis of nuclear power export and technology cooperation. President Lee further reaffirmed his commitment to expanding AI cooperation by attending the "AI Connect Summit."

Additionally, at the summits with Singapore and the Philippines, President Lee and his counterparts shared their perspectives on recent instability in the international situation and agreed to work together to overcome these challenges.

Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines, is speaking at the Korea-Philippines Business Forum held on the 4th at the Manila Conrad Hotel, attended by President Lee Jae-myung. Photo by Yonhap News

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